What if
by thegirlofmanymoods
Summary: Even the smallest of interactions are capable of producing huge effects.
1. The beginning

Sakura let out a sniffle as she tried desperately to contain her tears. Sasuke had just turned her down, again. She had just thought that after their time in the Land of Waves, Sasuke would want to talk to someone about it...and then realise that they were clearly meant to be together and declare his hidden love for her. Was that really too much to ask?

Apparently it was, because Sasuke didn't even wait one second before saying 'never' and walking away. Why did he act like this? It was obvious that they were supposed to be a couple…not that she was insulting Sasuke's intelligence of course. She would never do that.

She was glad that she had waited until the end of their team's training session to ask Sasuke. The girl wouldn't have wanted to see him for multiple hours after being rejected like that.

Being shot down by Sasuke wasn't the only reason she had been feeling down. That mission in Wave hadn't gone well, and not just because of the missing ninja. It had shown her just how weak she really was. As much as she didn't want to admit it, what Sasuke had said to her then was true: she really was the weakest member of team 7. That meant she was weaker than Naruto, Naruto! The oaf who had always been the worst in their class. Sakura had always been one of the top, at least in the academic field. And now she was actually worse than him. She felt so ashamed, she had been so useless on that mission.

She had known for a while that she had a disadvantage against a lot of her classmates. Most of them had some kind of bloodline limit or clan specialty. She had no such thing. The Harunos were not a clan, her parents were civilians. They owned a store in the marketplace. She had come to the academy with nothing but intelligence and a drive to learn. And all these other ninjas were gifted in so many areas, how was she supposed to keep up?

Come to think of it, sometimes she wondered why she was in a fact a ninja. It had certainly come as a shock to her parents when she announced that she had wanted to enroll in the academy. Thankfully they had been supportive, but had questioned her motives as civilians rarely became shinobi. In truth, none of her reasons had been particularly good ones. It had partially been to get closer to Sasuke (while she definitely did not regret wanting to be close to him, especially after becoming his team member, she did acknowledge that it was not the best reason for choosing an extremely dangerous career). Her other two reasons both revolved around how she had been bullied before. She had wanted to be able to stand up to her bullies (which had been civilians) and becoming a ninja seemed like a good way to do that. Also, Ino the girl who had always stuck up for her, was going to be a ninja and Sakura had wanted to be close to the blond.

Once she made it in, Sakura's reasons altered (at least the latter two did, since the bullies had moved onto other targets and she had ended her friendship with Ino in place for a rivalry). She had taken the process of becoming a shinobi on as a challenge. And she had begun to enjoy learning about chakra and the like. By the time she graduated, she had decided that a ninja was a fitting role for her.

But after the mission on Wave, she just felt unsure. She had searched herself for motivation, reason to continue this career, this life. Sakura had failed to think of anything that would make everything worth it…

Her thoughts were interrupted when she almost walked into someone. "Oh! I'm sorry," she said automatically. Nice one Sakura, she told herself, what a great ninja you are. The person did not say anything. Upon closer examination, the person was a boy around her age. He had red hair and a tattoo on his forehead. His eyes…they seemed hard, closed off from everyone. There was something…off about him.

He did not respond to her words. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

Again, he did not respond. "Okay…well I'm going to go. Have a nice day," she told him before taking off in another direction.

After a few moments she looked back, he was gone. The girl couldn't prevent a chill that moved through her body. The guy had a dangerous aura. And he had definitely not been friendly.

Sakura turned back and continued on her way home. Still, there had been something else about that boy. What was it? Her eyes widened as she figured it out and she stopped suddenly, causing the person behind her to yelp. Although his eyes had been dark, there had been something hidden away. Something that she was only able to detect because she had felt the same thing herself before.

It was loneliness.

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><p>Hello everyone, it has been a while. I admit that I haven't been in a writing mood for while. I'm hoping that this fic will get me 'back into it' (instead of doing the smart thing and updating my old fics before starting something new).<p>

As the first chapter implies, this is going to be Gaa/Saku, as well as a Sakura growth fic.

So...that manga ending (if you don't want to know anything about it, stop reading here). Was not a fan. I could go on for a while about why I was not a fan of it (or the last big chunk of the series for that matter), but I'd probably rant for quite a while I don't have time to do so right now :P. However I will say one of my biggest dislikes *ducks away from pairing fans*: apparently nothing says 'I love you' more than neglect, abuse and becoming a deadbeat dad. There's a reason why I can honestly say that I now prefer fanfics wayyy more than the actual manga (not just for the reason above).

With all that said, I hope you all enjoy this fic.


	2. Rooftops

"Sakura, please go to the market to pick up a box from the delivery store," her mom requested.

"Okay, mom." Sakura put down her book and departed from her room. Her family lived on the floor above their shop.

Before she left the building, she turned and asked, "Do we need anything else?"

"No, just the box," was her mother's reply from behind the counter.

"Okay," the pinkette said as she exited the store.

Her parents had told her before that she didn't need to help out with the shop. They figured that being a ninja was hard enough work as it was. Her parents had been correct, but Sakura didn't mind helping out. Especially when they stuck to D rank missions like they had today.

Today's mission had actually been rather funny. They had been trying to find a lost puppy. Kakashi-sensei had tried to make it a training ordeal by stating that they could not travel on the ground or by rooftops. Instead, they had to stand on walls with chakra control.

Obviously she and Sasuke had done well at the task. But Naruto had not yet fully mastered the skill. Seeing the oaf fall multiple times had been quite amusing. Sasuke had repeatedly called out the blond for it. She had laughed alongside him (she had been able to get over his rejection from yesterday. She couldn't let such a thing get her down when she knew that love eventually conquers all). However…she did admit that maybe Sasuke shouldn't have been quite as harsh as he was. As funny as it was to see Naruto fail so badly, Sasuke's comments were a tad meaner than they needed to be. Not that she would ever say that, of course.

One of the main reasons she thought that coincided with why she was glad Kakashi-sensei picked the training stipulations that he had. Usually she was the one who struggled during training. Sure at first Naruto was the one with most difficulty. He had barely grasped simple concepts about chakra. But now he was ahead of her in leaps and strides with his chakra size and endurance level (though he would never outright say it).

But this time Kakashi-sensei actually something that she was honestly good at. Something that she found quite easy. She was happy about that. One of her favourite moments of being a ninja came when she had been the one to climb the tree first.

However, if Kakashi-sensei had chosen a different type of training, Sasuke's remark could have easily been for her.

Was it like this for other teams as well? Where one member seriously lagged behind the other two. Also was it normal for people to improve as quickly as Naruto did? She didn't think so, but she didn't know enough about other ninjas and clans to be sure. She might have to look into that later.

Either way, she found herself jealous of other teams. She had spotted Hinata's team training together once. They worked so well together. Despite having very different abilities and styles, they all complimented each other. Their team made sense, and it worked.

For her own, she supposed it made sense to have two powerhouses on the same team. Despite the fact that Naruto and Sasuke did not really get along, they drove each other to become better. But what about her? Sure she loved being on the same team as Sasuke, but what was the point of her being on a team with them? Did all the other teams get decided first and she was just put in with Sasuke and Naruto as an afterthought?

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Ino and she mentally dropped her previous thoughts to prepare herself for a battle of insults. But then she noticed that Ino's father was with the blond and ended the preparation. Ino would never say anything that bad in front of her dad. So instead, when Ino caught Sakura's eyes, the blond just resorted to sticking her tongue out. Sakura returned the gesture as she walked.

Still…she found herself turning back and watching Ino as she talked with her father. Sakura herself had initiated the end of their friendship, so she really shouldn't feel any regret. At the time, the move had seemed like a necessity. For how could the two remain friends when they both liked the same guy? And while Sasuke was definitely worth the sacrifice, she often couldn't help but miss the time when she and Ino were inseparable. When they had nearly constant sleepovers and their parents each had a space for the other in their homes.

What if…what if they could go back to how they were before? No, Sakura quickly dismissed that idea. That were past that now. Besides, she would never be able go to Ino with her tail between her legs and say that she wanted to be friends again after she was the one who broke their friendship off. Ino would just laugh in her face and tell her to dream on or something.

By that point she had reached her destination and entered the store. The woman at the counter recognised her instantly. "Sakura-san, hello."

"Hi Milana-san," the pinkette greeted.

"Your parent's package arrived this morning, I'll go grab it for you." The women disappeared into the back for a few moments and then reappeared. "Here you go." She put the package down on the counter along with a pen and a release form.

"Thanks," the girl replied as she took the package in one hand and signed the release form with the other.

"So how is ninja life going?" Milana asked her.

Not that great, is what Sakura wanted to say. But then she would have to go into why, and Milana would just not understand. The women, like many civilians, just knew ninja life as dangerous and unknown and kept it at that. So to make things easier, Sakura plastered a fake smile on her face and said, "Alright."

"That's good," Milana replied. "I know I told you this before, but I think it's incredible that you decided to take on ninja life and have stayed in it as long as you have. It must be so hard, especially when you're not born into it."

The pinkette gave a shaky laugh. "Yeah, it definitely isn't easy sometimes. Anyways, I need to get back home now. My mom is expecting me."

Milana nodded. "Goodbye Sakura-san."

Sakura peered out at the night sky as she stepped out of her window and onto the roof.

She had begun the habit of looking out at the sky at night when she was a kid. It was around the time when the bullying began. She had found looking out at the stars comforting, in a way that her parents hadn't been able to achieve. Since then she had also discovered that it was a good place to think about things. To sort out of her thoughts and recap on the day's events. It was also a nice time to read, which was what she was planning on doing tonight.

Once she arrived on her rooftop, she leaped onto another rooftop and continued the motion onto another building. As much as she liked her home, there was another place that provided a view that was way nicer. It was an office building that was between the business district and apartments that were reserved for ninja who did not want to worry about things like upsetting their neighbours by coming and going at odd times of the day.

Finally, she reached her destination. She sat down and took out her book. But before she began to read, something, or rather someone, caught her peripheral vision. She turned to see the redhead that she had encounter the day before staring at her.

Once again, he had a neutral expression. She wasn't sure what to do, so she just gave a small wave. His eyes narrowed a little, but other than that he didn't respond.

Weird. She turned back and opened her book, without giving another thought to the boy. What she doesn't notice was that the pair of pale eyes often drifted back to her location.

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><p><strong>Hello everyone.<strong> **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed. Wow, I did not realise how depressing these past two chapters were until I sat out to write them. Also, I hope I am writing a 12 year old alright. Part of me wants to look back to the beginning of my very first fics that I wrote back when I was 13ish (gives you a sense of how old I am), but then I realised that I am not that desperate.**

**My usual beta did not look this over, so I hope nothing makes your eyes bleed too much. Please tell me what you all think and thanks for reading!  
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